


You Said Always

by GrayFox89



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon Divergent, Earth 25, Earth 38, F/F, F/M, Male Doppelganger, Multiverse, Parings: Leo Luthor/Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor/Kara Danvers, SCBB2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26768125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayFox89/pseuds/GrayFox89
Summary: On Earth 25 Leo Luthor and Kara Danvers are in love. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Except when an experiment building a portal to travel to other Earths in the Multiverse malfunctions. Leo gets sucked in and lands onto Earth 38. Alone and with no one to turn to Leo encounters his female doppelganger, Lena Luthor. The agreement is simple, Leo will assist Lena in achieving Project Non Nocere and she will help him get home. Sounds easy enough right?
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67
Collections: Supercorp Big Bang 2020





	1. Welcome to Earth 25

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [YOU SAID ALWAYS - art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26778460) by [belizafryler (embracedself)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/embracedself/pseuds/belizafryler), [GrayFox89](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayFox89/pseuds/GrayFox89). 
  * Inspired by [POSTER: You Said Always](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26784103) by [mizhuin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizhuin/pseuds/mizhuin). 



> Leo Luthor was born to prove that Kara and Lena's relationship is deeper than the CW would like to admit. Writing this I've grown fond of Leo, he's my son now, we just created and adopted a fictional character I know how crazy that sounds. I'd like to thank both Mizhuin and belizafryler for their beautiful artwork, be sure to check that out. I'd also like to thank tiiffk for your amazing support and assistance throughout this Big Bang Project. I have enjoyed participating in this, it was so much fun and a great experience! I hope you enjoy my story. Many thanks and much love.

Things always seemed simpler when you tinkered with tech. It was just the project before you, the problem ahead, and every little victory that made things much sweeter. He’d been absorbed in building the portal all morning, well after he had a realization of how to correct the issue. Between Brainy and Leo, they’d been working on building a portal to travel to other Earths. As for why, well why not? A multiverse of infinite possible Earths with different combinations of people, it was a theory that he could see as reality. “Mr. Luthor,” The smooth Irish voice of his AI Ida echoed in the lab.

“Yes, Ida?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

“Miss Danvers is waiting in your office. Did you want me to cancel lunch?” The AI suggested.

“What? We were supposed to meet at 12:30…” He began and went toward the desk picking up his watch, his eyes widened. “It’s 12:40! Ida, you were supposed to remind me to…”

“I did remind you, and you replied for me to give you a reminder in a few minutes.” Ida replied smoothly.

Leo bit his tongue. “Right… I suppose I did.” He exited the lab, swiftly walking toward the elevator. He was sure Kara would understand him being late but he was also very hungry. He also missed seeing her this morning for breakfast, there was a fire of course. Supergirl was needed once again so Leo simply headed into Luthor Corp before she returned. Not the most ideal way to begin their mornings but they made due.

As the elevator stopped and he walked out, he saw Jess sitting at her nearby desk outside his office. He smiled giving her a nod before he entered, his green eyes resting on Kara. Her beautiful golden hair pulled back into a ponytail, an orange sweater, a white collared blouse underneath, and a brown and orange striped skirt. She was sitting on the couch and the Chinese food already opened. Leo walked toward her, “Sorry I’m late, I got carried away with my…” He went to lean down to kiss her but paused as Kara turned to look at him, mouth full of potstickers. He laughed softly and pressed a kiss against her cheek before turning to look at the food she brought. When he spotted what was left of the potstickers, he frowned, “Kara! You left me two?”

Kara swallowed and carefully wiped her mouth before raising a finger to object, “I’ve been very busy today. I had to stop two robberies, I rescued a cat from a tree, and stopped a car crash. So I think I need them a little more than you.”

Leo sat down next to Kara on the couch. “Hmmm well, next time we should get a large order of potstickers.” He began to plate up his food.

“Ummm well… you see I did get a large order…” Kara said sheepishly.

“I’ve underestimated your love of potstickers.” Leo began to eat his lunch eating the two potstickers Kara left for him but he couldn’t blame her too much. His love could eat.

“So how is your project going? The portal.” Kara asked since it was all Leo was working on as of late. She remembered bits of the science lingo, but honestly, most of that jargon flew right over her head. Leo’s eyes brightened up and Kara knew his inner nerd was going to come pouring out.

“Well, it’s going. Brainy is coming in an hour to help me with it. So this portal that I’m building, it can take us to other Earths, other realities. All these Earths exist but we don’t encounter them or see them because they vibrate at a different frequency so we don’t run into each other.” Leo smiled. “So there’s an Earth where I’m poor. Or an Earth where you are an evil genius.”

“Oh does that mean there’s an Earth where you’re bald just like Lex? Now that’s a frightening thought,” Kara teased her one hand slowly taking Leo’s free hand.

Leo laughed, “Very frightening.”

Kara ran her one hand through Leo’s thick black hair, “Yeah… I don’t think you can pull that look off very well. Thank god I ended up with the Leo Luthor that’s got a full head of hair.”

Leo leaned forward, “Good thing I ended up with the strongest and the sexiest Supergirl.” His lips slowly slipped onto Kara’s as he felt Kara return the kiss. When she had told him that she was Supergirl he was hurt. He had needed time to dwell on this new fact. That his girlfriend was a hero, not just any hero, she was Supergirl. He realized that even though she hid the truth for so long, her feelings for him were still true. She was afraid of how he would react; she was afraid that her enemies would discover her identity and put him at risk. Understanding someone else’s viewpoint was the first step and he did give her another chance. Things only grew stronger afterward, and Leo supported Kara as both Kara Danvers and Kara Zor-el.

Leo’s lips soon began to travel down her neck and he heard Kara sigh softly, “Leo…” She warned, “Don’t start something we can’t finish.”

“Hmmm…” He muttered against her soft skin. “We got time… the door is closed, Jess is on her lunch now, and we have just enough alone time…” The next thing he heard was the door being pushed over and Leo quickly backed up, falling onto the floor. Standing in the doorway to his office was none other than Brainy.

“I have arrived!” He paused however as he noticed Leo on the floor and Kara her cheeks bright red as he entered the room. He raised an eyebrow. “Have I interrupted something?”

“Yes.” Leo hissed.

Kara however shook her head. “Nope!”

Leo stood up then. “Brainy, you’re an hour early.” The man had the worst timing, Leo had been so close. He just wanted a little alone time with Kara but Brainy pulled the rug right from under him.

“I was eager to arrive because I have an epiphany. We’ve been going about this all wrong!” Brainy waved his hands in front of him. “My friend, one word! Kryptonite!”

Leo opened his mouth but soon closed it and nodded slowly, “As our power source?”

Brainy grinned, “It’s radioactive by nature, even a small rock could power it. We just need to break it down into a non-lethal energy source that won’t harm Supergirl.”

Leo’s smile grew wider and he grabbed Brainy by the arms as he pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. “Ha! You just might be onto something!”

Brainy blinked. “You? Kissed me?”

Leo shrugged, “You’re welcome.” He turned to Kara then and kissed her. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

Kara laughed softly at the two before kissing Leo back. “I’ll see you for dinner tonight. Don’t be late now.”

Leo nodded. “I won’t. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Leo began to walk out of his office with Brainy following behind Leo, “You know Brainy I’m not as upset with you as I was a moment ago.” Brainy looked confused, as smart as the man was, he didn’t understand women. “You know sometimes couples like to be alone… together.”

“Are you referring to when I walked in on you and Kara?”

“Yes…” Leo began and he could tell he didn’t get it yet. He cleared his throat. “Sex Brainy.”

“Oh, had I know you wanted to be intimate with Kara, I would have avoided coming into your office. I shall make a note for next time.” Brainy gave a firm nod. “Don’t worry bro. Or perhaps you should text me…”

Leo shook his head. “How about you just come on time, hmm? I don’t need to text you about that. Though I Ummm… appreciate it. Why don’t we just get back to work.”

* * *

Using Kryptonite as an energy source was viable since it was radioactive and only deadly to Kryptonians, but still, using the green rock’s raw energy to power the portal could be the ticket. They spent hours painstakingly having the Kryptonite placed in the portal to power it. The portal was very large, about 22 feet in diameter, the circular black metal frame housed the wires and tech while the temporary power supply was attached to the back of the ring. The Kryptonite was placed in the power supply. Leo and Brainy set up a temporary level at a safe distance, wires were attached to the lever and the portal. They placed the final touches before they were ready to test, “Right, you ready?” Brainy gave a nod as they stood back behind some protective plexiglass. “On three… one, two, three.” He pulled the lever down, the portal gave a whine, sparked, and then sputtered. Leo frowned and turned the lever down and then up again, nothing. He sighed. “Ughh, dammit…” He rubbed the side of his face.

“That was unexpected. I suppose it's back to the drawing board.” Brainy frowned as well.

Leo waved his hand, “No, forget it it’s late and besides, you have that date with Nia. We’ll give it another go tomorrow morning.”

“As you wish. I feel that we will find a solution. We are very close, Leo. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Brainy said before he left Leo alone in the lab. Leo rubbed his cheek, “Why won’t you work?” He thought to himself as he walked forward, placing his hand against the edge of the machine. Well, there was nothing he could do now. He turned, only for the machine to spark again. He hissed, yanking his hand back before the machine whirled to life. The green glow from the portal bubbling to life. “Shit!” He said as the energy from the portal pulled his body forward and sucked him in.

Leo soon collapsed, his body landing on the hood of a car. He groaned as his hands held his head and all he could see was the night sky above. A few bright stars in the sky but you couldn’t see much, not from the city lights that shone brightly over National City. Leo eased himself off the car he had landed on, rubbing his back as he took in his surroundings. Instantly, the layout of the city was off, just slightly. There were buildings he hadn’t recognized. His eyes widened, he was in another world. He rubbed the back of his head and as he turned, he saw a homeless man with his eyes wide as he stared at Leo. He had seen Leo drop out of nowhere, and was speechless. The man was short but scruffy, a thick beard, and his clothes were ragged but obviously, Leo needed information. Leo smiled, “Ahhh hi.”

“Are you an alien?”

Leo shook his head. “Ummm no, I uhh I’m a scientist. Working on teleporting…” He cleared his throat.

“Like star trek?”

“Yeah, sort of… look I uh need some information you don’t happen to know the name Luthor do you?”

He raised an eyebrow, “I might… though that shiny watch might help me remember.”

Leo bit his tongue and begrudgingly, he removed his Rolex watch from his wrist and handed it to the man. “Here.”

The man grinned and began to place the watch on his wrist. He examined it against his wrist. “That’s a really nice watch.”

“Yeah, it looks great on you. Now, Luthor.” Leo asked again. He needed to get back home and the only way was stealing some tech from the Luthors. He wasn’t sure if he could trust anyone in this world or if anyone would believe him.

“Right the Luthors have a huge building downtown National City.” The man began to explain.

“Where exactly?”

“It’s off Cordova Street.” Leo nodded and then walked away from the man. So he just needed to find the Luthor Corp warehouses. Hopefully, their families thought alike, otherwise, this would be a waste. Any tech he could use to find a way back home to his Earth would be worth it well if he could even find a way back home. Brainy would eventually find out that he was missing, but Leo knew finding what Earth he ended up in was like finding a needle in a haystack. This haystack was infinite; the odds of him being rescued were slim. No, he had to find a way home himself.

* * *

It took Leo three different locations before one was a success, there were no guards. The only thing that stood in his path was the security system to the vault. If it was anything like the vaults back home then he should easily be able to gain access. The computer should scan for Luthor DNA, which he had, then it’d be smooth sailing. He raised his hand before placing his index finger into the scanner. He felt the machine prick his finger and after a moment, the computer replied. “Access granted.” Leo grinned and after removing his hand, he placed his pricked finger in his mouth, slowly walking inside the large vault doors only to find another set of doors. Perhaps this family was more paranoid than his own.

He removed his finger and the computer simply stated. “Please state your name.” He didn’t reply right away as he considered his options, this Luthor family might have named their son Leo. There was a chance however that he was wrong and that he would fail the second security checkpoint. What choice did he have? He was out of options. “Leo Tiberius Luthor.” The computer began blaring an alarm and before Leo could even move, a force field activated, trapping him between the vault and his escape. Well, he had to come to the one Earth that doesn’t have a Leo Luthor.

* * *

The phone rang, echoing throughout the penthouse apartment and the CEO groaned as she stirred, her arm reaching out and answering the phone next to her bed. “Yes…”

“Miss Luthor, there’s been an attempted break-in at one of our warehouses. The thief has been apprehended…”

Lena sighed, “Why are you disturbing me at 3 in the morning if the thief has been caught. Shouldn’t you take him to the police?”

“Miss Luthor, he broke through the first security measure. The computer granted him access, it was the secondary door that triggered the security measures and alerted us. We brought him down to L-Corp for questioning and he's been silent ever since.”

Lena sat up in bed at the mention that his thief broke in somehow. That was impossible, the only way anyone would be able to gain entry was to break through the vault doors, and even that was difficult enough. Lex had designed those doors to withstand Superman being able to punch his way through. “I’ll be there shortly.” She hung up the phone before getting up to get dressed.

When she emerged from the room she called Hope, “Hope, I need you to get me the security files on the warehouse on 5th.” The AI was there in the penthouse, her head tilting before she went to a computer and retrieved the data for Miss Luthor. She sent the data to her tablet and Lena began reading though the security systems data for the vault. The security footage even showed the analysis of the thief’s blood. It wasn’t possible, the DNA was Luthor DNA and her mother’s.

“Shall I call a car for you Miss Luthor?”

“Yes, Hope.” According to this DNA sample, she had a brother, but that was not possible. Even though she was young, she did not remember having a sibling. So what was he, this thief? She was pulled out of her thoughts as Hope spoke again. “Miss Luthor the driver is ready downstairs for you.”

Lena gave a firm nod. “Thank you, Hope.”

* * *

Leo was waiting dressed in black shoes, black pants, and a white buttoned-up shirt. His sleeves rolled up to his elbows, hands cuffed to the metal table. He was in a simple room with nothing but the metal table and two chairs. So logically, his doppelganger will soon arrive and all Leo had to do was convince him that he was from another Earth and possibly gain his help so he’d be home soon. If things went well, normally he would end up in these situations with Kara but alas he was left alone here. His eyes snapped to the door as a woman entered the room. She was breathtaking, her black hair was pulled up neatly in a high ponytail, red lipstick, dressed in a black skirt and red blouse. Her heels clicking with each step as she walked forward to the table before sitting down across from him. This woman’s green eyes met his gaze as they tried to read each other.

The way she walked she seemed to command power, respect, and confidence. Leo cracked a smile as realization struck him; he was a woman on this Earth. She was his doppelganger. “Who are you? According to the computer it says you have Luthor DNA and we have the same mother but that’s impossible because my mother-“

Leo finished, “Died.” Lena froze as he finished her sentence, her eyes hardening slightly. Leo continued. “The computer‘s not wrong. I’m from another Earth, one where I am the product of Lionel Luthor and a woman who is far too good and too pure to fall for a man like our father. I have an insane older brother named Lex and a stepmother who I can never seem to get any approval from. So, have you heard of the Multiverse theory?”

“You’re saying that the Multiverse is real?”

“Of course it’s real. There’s no other logical explanation, so logically it must be true.”

“Suppose I do believe you, why were you trying to break into my warehouse?”

“I needed to borrow some tech so I can build a portal home. I didn’t know who to trust here, or if anyone would believe me. I got sucked in and taken here by accident. Brainy and I were working all afternoon…” He sighed. “Anyways I’m stuck here.”

Having a doppelganger was the only logical explanation she could consider. The Multiverse theory was just a theory, well that’s what she had thought before. Still, the DNA was proof enough that this man was a Luthor, it was infallible proof. He seemed intelligent, intelligent enough to build a portal to another Earth. Maybe… just maybe, she could use his help. Project Non Nocere was in its early stages of development; she knew her goal but how to accomplish it was a whole other matter. “I have a proposition for you. I want to fix people at their core. Rid the world of lies and violence, make people better than themselves. If you assist me, I will get you back to your Earth.”

Leo’s eyebrow raised, Non Nocere, do no harm. While her goal was just illogical, fairy tales he couldn’t help but wonder what on Earth could possess this woman to want to fix people that way. He didn’t believe it was possible to change people in that way without mind controlling them. Isn’t that how people are supposed to grow, through the hardships? Finding joy in life, friendship, and family? Life wasn’t easy, and yes, he could count more times than one where he felt lost. He felt pain and only when he clawed his way through was he able to gain happiness. Life has ups and downs and you have to travel those waves until you make it through. Then the ones standing by you can give you the strength to go on, to fight. People are always going to be imperfect, you just have to find something in them that makes you appreciate them. Take them as they are.

Alas, Leo would assist her, eventually, he might get the reason for her doing this but what choice did he have? “Very well, I guess we’re partners.” He grinned. “I’m Leo. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Lena.”


	2. Chapter 2

Today was the first time Kara would be seeing Lena again since telling her that she was Supergirl. Planning lunch together again just like they used to before Lena knew the truth. Still, her stomach was doing flips and she couldn’t focus on anything else other than wanting to make up for years of lying. God, she was an awful person, why had she waited so long to tell Lena the truth? Perhaps some sugary goodness would put her mind at ease. Kara smiled at the woman behind the front counter. “Yes I’d like…” She gently bit her lower lip as she scanned the donuts. “Two strawberry frosted donuts with sprinkles.” She pulled out her credit card and paid for the donuts, the lady soon handing Kara the bag filled with her prize.

She was so lost in her thoughts as she turned to leave the Donut shop that she didn’t even see the man she bumped into. “OH, I’m so sorry.”

Leo shook his head. “No I am…” His eyes raised up looking upon Kara. “K-sorry.” He cleared his throat, his eyes focused on the blonde’s face. She looked exactly like his Kara, but she wasn’t his Kara. His Kara had no bangs, this one was sporting the bangs proudly. Was it wrong that he found his girlfriend’s doppelganger attractive?

Kara soon focused on the man that was standing in front of her, dark black hair, broad shoulders, even the strong chiseled jaw. It finally dawned on her that her mouth was open and she clamped it shut. “Have we… met before? You look familiar?” It was those green eyes, where had she seen those eyes before. She could almost get lost looking into them.

Leo shook his head. “Huh… oh no I-we’ve never met. I’m sure I’d remember a beautiful woman like yourself.” He bit his tongue then. “I’m Leo… Smith.”

Kara blushed, laughing a bit. “Right… yes I’m sure I’d remember you too… if we’d ever met… right, I’m Kara, Kara Danvers. Sorry about bumping into you. Have a nice day.” She walked out of the Donut Shop, that was awful, she made a fool of herself in a matter of seconds. Still, there was something she couldn’t put her finger on about that man. Something was off. No matter, she still had to meet up with Alex.

Leo let out a slow breath as Kara left; that wasn’t the smoothest interaction and he almost blew it by saying her name. Apparently, Kara’s sneakiness was rubbing off on him. He ordered a large coffee and a Boston Crème donut to tie him over.

After his conversation with Lena he spent the night at L-Corp, the name change threw him but what else was new. Leo didn’t think going to get some donuts would be an issue, apparently, this Earth’s Kara had the same thought. He paid using Lena’s credit card and if she got upset, well honestly the woman could afford it. When he received his donut and coffee, he slowly took a sip and let out a slow sigh. Right, after this it’d be time to get to work on fixing humanity, rewriting people’s worst behaviors.

He took a seat at one of the tables in the Donut Shop, his eyes soon transfixed onto the beaded bracelet around his one wrist. One single white bead resting in the middle surrounded by black ones. Leo remembered when Kara had matching bracelets made for them of course hers was white and had one black bead. They’d always have a part of each other wherever they went. He never thought that they’d be separated by different Earth’s. I’ll get back to you, Kara. I won’t give up and I know you won’t either.

* * *

When Leo finally came back to L-Corp and went up to see Lena in her office, she immediately asked. “Where have you been? You have some nerve taking my credit card. You shouldn’t be out in public, it’s a risk.”

Leo shook his head. “I needed to clear my head and besides, no one knows what I look like.” He set her credit card down on the coffee table only to see éclairs and cappuccinos. “If I had known you’d have this for lunch I would have waited. Oh, I saw your Kara… it’s remarkable how much she reminds me of my Kara. Just as beautiful too.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “She’s not my Kara. While you’ve been gallivanting about and not fulfilling your end of our agreement, I’ve been working with Hope trying to find a way to make Q-waves work with Non Nocere.”

“Not your Kara? That holds a personal ring to it, did something happen?” Leo raised an eyebrow only for Lena to shake her head.

The woman stood up. “What I want is to get to work, not discuss Kara.”

He crossed his arms. “I have been working and Q-waves work differently on this Earth than on mine. I was up most of last night, working in your lab. I couldn’t sleep very well, I’m not used to not having Kara nearby.” He saw Lena scoff. “You really don’t have a high opinion of Kara…” He paused as the realization just struck him. “Oh, you didn’t know either… she never told you that she was Supergirl. How long?”

“Long enough.” Lena turned away from Leo, immediately walking toward the bottle of scotch she had in her office.

“A little early for that isn’t it… wow you sound just like me.” Leo began, he should have recognized it sooner but now he could tell. She was lost, hurt, and he could see her world was spinning out of control.

“Don’t compare yourself to me. You don’t know what it’s like to have your best friend lie to you every day for years! For her to promise that she wouldn’t lie or betray you like everyone else. How could you possibly know what it’s like for your brother to tell you what a fool you were after shooting him in the chest?!”

“My girlfriend didn’t tell me the truth until well into our relationship. I felt like a fool, all that time I was worried about her and she could stop bullets with her hands. She didn’t trust me enough to tell me who she was. Yeah I know I… I was a horrible boyfriend. I kept way too many secrets and it was painful to tell her things I had trained myself to hide. You are right about one thing, I never did shoot Lex but yes, what my Kara did was wrong but I forgave her. Perhaps you should forgive your Kara too.”

Lena pursed her lips. “I could never forgive her. I could never trust her again. Now, how about you help me like you promised.”

* * *

_Perhaps it was Kara’s sudden seriousness that confused him as she sat beside him on her couch. It was after dinner but she seemed distracted while they ate. “Kara, what’s wrong?”_

_“Leo… you know that I love you. I haven’t been completely honest with you.” Kara admitted her hands twisting together while they rested in her lap._

_“Kara, what do you mean?” If anything he was always the one keeping secrets from her._

_“Leo, I’m-I’m Supergirl.” She took her glasses off her eyes wet with tears as she met his eyes. She was frightened to see his reaction. “I should have told you so long ago but I was a coward and I was selfish for keeping the truth from you for so long. I am a horrible person. I just wanted to be Kara, and when I was with you I didn’t have to worry about being Supergirl I could be myself with you and not worry about being a hero with you.” She paused then only to see Leo was stunned she had floored him completely. “Please say something.”_

_“Kara… it’s been years. You kept this for years? Was I not trustworthy?”_

_Kara shook her head. “No! No! It’s not like that I trust you completely Leo.” She gently placed her hand on top of his only for Leo to pull his hand away. He stood up then running his hand through his hair._

_“I-I need to think.” Leo began to walk toward the door of Kara’s loft and left her alone._

* * *

They were getting nowhere on Project Non Nocere so they got to work on a way to send Leo back home. Leo had discussed in detail the portal they had built and she believed they could build it better. Of course, she still had to come up with a way to power the thing but her work with Rhea would definitely be in the right direction. Apparently, there had been no Daxamite invasion on Earth 25, no Rhea, or Mon-El. She sat currently in her armchair, her eyes resting upon schematics of the portal she used to bring the Daxamites here. She could repurpose the technology on a smaller scale and teleport Leo back to his Earth.

He was very intelligent; he had to be for he was a Luthor, but still, she never understood why he could forgive Kara. Why he insisted that she forgive her. He must be insane, how could she ever trust her again? Her eyes soon veered upward out her balcony window seeing Supergirl floating just outside her penthouse. Lena smiled as she saw she had the journals from Lex.

Supergirl smiled as she landed on Lena’s balcony and walked inside. This was worth it, she’d do anything to help Lena and if she could bring her peace of mind she would. They were just journals and taking them wouldn’t hurt anyone. “I hope they help.” Kara smiled as she handed the journals to Lena.

Lena smiled as her eyes focused on the journals. She was one step closer and Lex will do one good thing from beyond the grave. The only good thing, using his work to make the world a utopia. “They already have. I hope we haven’t crossed any boundaries?”

Kara shook her head. “No, for a friend like you there are no boundaries.” She smiled again before she turned to head back out on the balcony and took off. Lena walked down into her lab to find Leo and Hope.

“I don’t have a Hope… I have an Ida. So you’re an A.I. but you have a human body?” Leo asked with his eyes focusing on the woman standing beside him.

Hope gave a nod. “Yes, I merged with Eve Tessmacher. I have all her memories.”

Leo nodded slowly as he was understanding this, of course, Ida had no physical body and Leo didn’t see the need to give his A.I. one. The fact that Lena gave Hope a body but not just any random body, but someone else’s that was familiar was intriguing. What use did a physical form have other than companionship? Lena was alone; she had no one to talk with. Kara had been her friend but the woman refused to make amends. It was then he heard the click of Lena’s heels and she walked into the lab with journals in her hands. She looked like the cat that had gotten the canary just from the smirk on her face. “You seem very pleased with yourself. What do you have?”

“Lex’s journals, his work with Q-waves could give us just the right help. I just need to find the right one.” She placed the journals down on the counter of the lab, her hand grasping one of the journals and flipping it open.

Leo made his way to stand beside Lena grabbing one of the journals. “Well that’s helpful but why didn’t you get them before when we were smacking our heads against the wall with your project?” He slowly opened one of the journals.

“I didn’t have them, I had to retrieve them.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “Huh…” Lena didn’t offer an explanation and it was unlikely she would. As he began to read through the journals it was nothing short of Lex’s narcissistic views and memories of his childhood. Wasn’t this supposed to be technical? If this Lex was anything like his own brother he could have his research in codes.

Lena soon handed Leo one of the journals on an open page and Leo began scanning the page. “See anything?”

Leo smiled. “It’s a Vigenere cipher. Can Hope decode it?”

Lena gave a nod. “Hope, take a look.” Hope took the journal from Leo, her head tilting just slightly as she read it. “Deciphering it now.” Soon the coded message began to be displayed on one of the nearby monitors and Lex’s notes on Q-waves began to fill the screen. The first words on screen concerned him: How to Use Q Waves in the Pursuit of Mind Control by Lex Luthor. Mind control was a different goal than what Lena wanted still they had to use something as a jumping-off point. Using Lex’s work left a sour taste in his mouth and Lena’s goal seemed even more unrealistic. He didn’t believe it could work, she was trying to fix what people always did to her. Lying and betrayal, something they both had in common, he knew now that was part of life. You had to trust people or you would fall and end up forever alone. 


	3. Chapter 3

Lena was surprised to see Leo still up and at work. She had turned in after they had built the tuner and left Hope with the task of finding the right frequency to run the device with. “You’re up early.”

“I couldn’t sleep well. I’m too used to Kara’s snoring.” Lena opened her mouth slightly before closing it unsure of what to say and a little surprised the woman of steel snored. “It’s not super loud, I just am used to it. You know how some people listen to waves to calm them down? It’s sort of like that, it sounds odd I know.” He rubbed the side of his face. 

Before Lena could reply her cell phone rang and after answering it with a simple. “Hello.” There was a pause. “Of course Alex, I’ll be right over.” 

Leo pointed toward the device. “So the frequency Lex provided in his journals is wrong and honestly even with Hope’s A.I. computing power, there are hundreds of thousands of variables to find the correct frequency it’s time neither of us have.”

“I may have an expedited solution, Leo. Alex has just asked me to assist the D.E.O in apprehending a rouge Green Martian, Malefic, J’onn J’onzz’s brother. Apparently, he has the ability to override another person’s thoughts with his own. If we were able to harness Malefic’s abilities, we could use them to determine what frequency is needed to implant thoughts into the brain.” Lena had a small smirk on her lips she definitely seemed pleased as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

Leo raised his index finger up pointing toward Lena. “Yes, but that would require us to detain him and Kara would never let us do that. She wouldn’t approve of it.”

“No, she would not.” However, Lena didn’t seem fazed at all by this obstacle.

“How are you going to capture a Green Martian without her knowing?” Of course, he recognized that look in her eyes. She was devoted and this wouldn’t stop her, she’d find a way. How? He wasn’t sure but Lena wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted. They both had that same drive when they were faced with an impossible obstacle. When they wanted something badly enough, they were driven, especially with pain as a strong motivator. 

“They’re using a projector to send him into a prison called the Phantom Zone so all I need to do is make a slight adjustment and send him here.” Lena explained and the plan was nothing short of brilliance. No wonder she was so calm and collected. 

“That will work. Well then let’s go capture a Green Martian.” 

* * *

_Leo could feel the pounding headache as he slowly sat up with his hand holding his head. He groaned painfully, what the hell happened? His eyes soon focused on who was opposite him; it was Kara, in her Supergirl suit but she was collapsed on the floor unconscious. “Kara!” He neared her and gently shook her. “Kara, wake up.” His eyes then took in his surroundings only to find that they were trapped in what appeared to be a metal container, and the only thing that lit up the container was the green glow of Kryptonite. He gritted his teeth and carefully picked Kara up in his arms. “Kara…” His hand brushed away her golden locks from her face and she soon awoke. He hadn’t talked to her since she told him her secret and to be honest, he didn’t know how to process that revelation. His head was spinning that Kara Danvers and Supergirl were one and the same. It threw him and it was painful to think that she didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell him the truth earlier._

_She immediately groaned as the pain from the Kryptonite hit her body all at once. Her hand grabbed onto Leo’s shirt. “Leo…where are we?”_

_“Trapped, but apparently life and death situations are sort of our thing.” He soon was cut off as his brother’s voice filled the container._

_“Ah, I see you two are awake. I do hope you appreciate the ambiance of the Kryptonite. It does give it a homelike feel.” Leo gritted his teeth. “Until you two are dead, that is. Any burial requests?”_

_“Yeah, how about you rotting in the deepest hole I can put you in?!” It was then that the container began to fill up with water. Leo’s eyes widened, things were looking bleak and the odds of them surviving were slim._

_“I’m afraid not. I do hope you die quickly dear brother, along with the Kryptonian.” Lex said before disconnecting the feed._

_Leo’s eyes frantically searched around trying to find an escape but it seemed his brother had considered everything. The Kryptonite to keep Kara weakened so she couldn’t break them out of the metal container. “I didn’t mean for both of us to be put in this situation. Especially with us fighting.” She knew the odds of them being rescued in time were slim. J’onn and Alex would not give up but this was Lex. Lex wouldn’t make things easy._

_“Well…I know you didn’t mean to keep your secret identity for so long.” Leo sighed his eyes locked with her blue eyes. “I-I still am upset, it’s not easy for me to open up to people, Kara. But I… I am beginning to understand why you kept it. I forgive you. I will always love you, Kara.” The water was already waist-high by now and Leo had his arms around Kara. “How are you holding up?”_

_Kara sighed, “I never meant to hurt you. I just was scared that because of everyone else in your life that had lied to you, I was going to be lumped in with them. I love you too Leo.” She then shrugged when he asked her how she was holding up, she’d been dealing with it Kryptonite for years. “Oh, the Kryptonite…. Just peachy…” Her arms hung onto Leo tightly gritting her teeth. Her arms wrapped around his neck._

_“I suppose ending like this isn’t so bad…” His brother just might finally do it, kill Supergirl, and himself. There were worse ways to die and they wouldn’t be alone._

_“It’s not over yet. Besides, there’s still time we’ll be found.” Kara, still being as hopeful as she could in these circumstances._

_The water crept up over time, getting higher and higher until it was just under their chins, and Leo and Kara were pressed up against the top of the metal crate. “They’re really… cutting things close.” He muttered before taking a deep breath along with Kara as the water completely filled the container. Kryptonians could hold their breath longer and if Kara survived, that would be enough._

_When it seemed like there would be no rescue, the container was forced open while Nia, J’onn, Brainy, and Alex stood on the outside. Nia used her energy to materialize what looked like a whip latching onto one side while J’onn had his arms on the other side, and with their combined strength they forced a hole into the container. Water came gushing out and Kara’s hand soon emerged with her free arm pulling Leo out. She gasped, taking in much-needed air into her lungs. “Kara!” Alex rushed toward her sister helping her with Leo and after setting him down on the concrete floor, Kara began to blow breaths into Leo’s lungs._

_“Leo, wake up… you can’t leave me.” She began to push her palms down firmly, giving compressions to his chest before blowing in again and then again. When Leo’s eyes opened, he coughed up water onto the ground. He groaned and soon Kara enveloped him in a tight hug._

_“Kara… too tight.” He grunted._

_“I’m sorry…” Kara loosened her grip, her hands resting on either side of Leo’s face. “I thought you had…”_

_“Not yet…” Leo smiled before he felt Kara press a kiss against his lips._

* * *

Leo was examining the Green Martian through the camera feed. Lena and Leo had designed his cell to prevent him from phasing through the walls. Still, it was his ability to incept that was very dangerous. It was clear from the moment Lena and Hope attempted to probe the Martian’s brain, it backfired. At the moment he had inhibitors blocking his ability. He could almost sense Lena behind him feeling her eyes glued onto his back. His arms crossed over his chest. “How’s Hope?”

“She’s finally not under his control. Probing his mind had unexpected results.”

“Yeah, you’re not going to break his mental block, it's too strong even with the inhibitors. He needs to be willing.” It was clear Malefic was highly skilled in his abilities. Getting this Martian to be willing wasn’t going to be easy. He was completely driven by revenge, he wanted his brother dead and nothing else mattered.

“I just need to convince him that it is in his best interests to assist me.” Lena stated before walking into the lab approaching the Martian. She was so close to success, she wouldn’t be stopped by this Martian. She walked toward the force field separating Malefic and herself and stood in front of him.

His eyes opened, “Approaching me while I’m still conscious,” His head turned and he smirked at her. “How thoughtful of you.”

“It seems we have gotten off on the wrong foot.” Lena began to walk pacing slowly in front of the force field. “So I have a proposition. You have the ability to incept thoughts into people’s minds. I want to study your brain, so I can develop a technology that can do the same thing.” No point in lying she might as well tell him what she wanted.

The man scoffed and slowly sat up. “Forgive my skepticism, but the last time someone showed interest in my brain, the High Council sent me to the Phantom Zone.”

“You’d be back in the Phantom Zone if it wasn’t for me.” Lena snapped, why couldn’t he understand she wasn’t an enemy. She would be a greater ally than an enemy.

“And yet, now we are at an impasse. What’s in it for me?”

Lena paused in her step her eyebrow rising slightly, “We both want the same thing. We were each betrayed by the people closest to us. Work with me. I believe you have the ability to do great things.”

Malefic hissed clearly he didn’t have Lena’s good ideals at heart. “I don’t want to do great things. I want revenge. So I have a proposal for you. Martian biology prevents a brother from harming his brother. That’s why I’ve been attacking the people closest to J’onn J’onzz. If you remove this barrier from my brain so I can kill my brother, I will give you access to my mind.” Leo could hear their entire conversation through the camera feed; he shook his head, either she would agree and do what he asked or she could manipulate him. Either way, Lena needed Malefic and this alien was using that knowledge to his advantage.

“It is my mission to stop people from hurting each other. I will not kill.” She’d crossed that line once before with Lex, not again. She was good, she wasn’t the villain of this story. Things were not deemed clearly as black and white. She knew some things that she’d done others would deem her a villain. At least she was striving to prevent things like murder and betrayal from happening in the future.

“Perhaps.” Malefic smirked knowing he left this human no choice but to assist him. “But you’ve gone to extreme measures to bring me here. And now, you are at the precipice. Studying my mind is the key. I know of desperation, human. I know the depths you feel.”

“I would have to develop the technology first.” Lena turned her back to him then promptly answered. “Your terms are acceptable. Let’s get to work.” Leo smirked, Malefic believed Lena wholeheartedly but he saw the subtle hints. She had no intention of allowing him to murder his brother. Poor fool, he’d be utterly furious when he realized Lena’s true intentions. She wasn’t afraid to take risks, and stuck to her own moral code just like himself. They were similar in more ways than one.

He knew that this Project Non Nocere was born from Kara’s betrayal, her lie. Both Kara’s had lied but one major difference was that his Kara had told him the truth. Lena’s Kara, hadn’t. Lex revealed that truth with his dying words. Leo grimaced, the thought of finding that truth from his own Lex made him sick. So going with that information, he saw Lena struggle with this hurt, and the only way she dealt with it was to bury it. Bury it with anger, with her senseless project since she hadn’t come to terms with it as he had.

He’d spent weeks apart from Kara and it was only after that and her repeated attempts at calling him to explain, did he finally understand. That he finally forgave her because she was worth it, she deserved a second chance. She’d forgiven all the mistakes he’d made, he should at least forgive her.

Lena though, he got the sense that this was more than just the loss of a friendship, no, this connection to Kara was grounding for Lena. She must clearly feel strongly for Kara, but has not fully come to terms with it. With a friend, yes that would indeed hurt, but with someone you deeply cared for, someone you loved? That pain. That pain would be crushing. He couldn’t let her throw away a relationship, Lena deserved to find happiness. He’d found it, so why couldn’t his doppelganger have that same chance?

* * *

Lena didn’t come out of the lab until well into the late hours of the night. She walked up into the living room finding Leo sitting on the couch with a glass of scotch in one hand. Lena poured herself two fingers before sliding out of her heels and sitting beside her doppelganger. “How’s it going?”

She slowly took a small sip. “Hmmm well… very well. I’m going to test the limits of his powers tomorrow morning. Testing that should allow me to find the perfect frequency.” Her eyes focused on Leo, but he seemed to be elsewhere, or rather he wished he was somewhere else. “You really do love her don’t you?”

A small appeared on his lips. “I do, she’s my best friend and I love everything about her. Even that little crinkle she gets right between her eyebrows. I don’t feel like I have to prove anything to her, she knows everything about me. Knows all the horrible things I’ve done. Inspired me to do better, be a better man. I’m not perfect and she’s not either but I wouldn’t change her no matter what.” Leo took another sip from his glass. “I’ll get home to her. We’ve been in worse spots than this. Being separated by another Earth is nothing.”

Lena said nothing, but his words only made her think about Kara. She was her best friend as well and she thought that they’d… they’d always be friends. She never considered the fact that she’d ever lose Kara in this way. That she’d be like everyone else who’d lied to her. She thought Kara was different. Part of her did miss her though. Lena took another drink attempting to drown out her thoughts. 


	4. Chapter 4

_Loving Kara was never the issue, he never stopped loving her. It just pained him that she never trusted him enough to tell him her secret. Lex’s attempt to kill them both had been foiled, but there was still much to discuss. He hadn’t spoken to Kara since then, but it was time. He firmly knocked on the door to her loft and moments later Kara opened the door. “Hey…can I come in?”_

_“Of course.” Kara stepped aside as Leo entered her loft._

_“We…” Leo began._

_“We need to talk.” Kara finished for him as she shut the door behind him. Kara walked over toward her couch with Leo following her and the two of them sat down together. “I’m glad you're safe. I thought for a moment that we weren’t going to make it. You… said you loved me.”_

_“Of course I still love you, Kara. I just needed time to process what you told me. It threw me. And I guess I always knew, I just refused to see it.” Leo sighed. “The last time I had something pure in my life I lost it within moments. My mother died before my eyes and my time with the Luthor’s was… difficult to put it lightly.” His hand rubbed the side of his face. “My Father only brought me home because I was his blood, Lillian just saw me as a bastard son. The product of betrayal. I’d always wanted an older brother but Lex never really cared about me. So when you lied it just made me wonder if I’d lost you. I don’t want to lose you, Kara. Just help me understand why.”_

_Kara twisted her hands in her lap as she considered her words, her feelings on the matter. Leo was making an attempt to talk, things were headed on the right track. Still, if she misspoke, it could all come crashing down. “Being Supegirl is amazing. I can do all of these incredible things and help people with what I’ve been given. But Kara… being Kara is who I am and when I’m with you, I don’t have to save you. I can just be with you.” She gave him a small smile before she sighed. “I was also scared to tell you because Supergirl has many enemies and I can’t lose you to one of them. We almost died from Lex.”_

_“Kara, you’ve told others your secret. Alex, J’onn, James, Nia, and even Brainy. You told them and they gladly take the risk. Knowing you, knowing you fully as Kara and Supergirl is all I want. I’m not completely helpless Kara. Knowing your secret is worth the risk.” All he could do is listen and try to understand her point of view. Now that he was calmer, he could express how he felt. “There is always going to be another enemy, always another Lex. That’s just the way things are when it comes to knowing that you’re Supergirl.”_

_“I know I did tell them…you're different from the others. I was scared that telling you would make things worse. I made excuses and that’s not how I should have been with you. I am truly sorry I kept everything from you for so long. I am a horrible person.” Kara sighed sniffling a bit as her eyes watered up. “There will always be another Lex. I just don’t want you to be hurt because I’m Supergirl.”_

_Leo slowly placed his hand on top of Kara’s. “I’m still upset with you, but I’m beginning to understand why you kept it a secret. There can’t be any more secrets between us if I’m going to give us another chance. Don’t worry about my safety, I can handle tough situations. We have always made a good team, I think we can beat any enemy that comes at us.” Things were back to normal, but they were healing their relationship. That’s all they could do, Leo had to have an open mind even though he was still a bit bitter. His love for Kara outweighed that bitterness, enough to give her another chance._

_Kara looked up then at Leo and smiled gently, “No more secrets. Thank you for not leaving.” She meant leaving them, their relationship behind. She owed Leo the truth and she had to trust that they could make it through any of the perils that they were placed in._

* * *

Finding Hope’s A.I. code in the system was fortuitous and dangerous to mess with. If Lena found out that he had broken into Hope’s programming, she would be furious. It was worth the risk, he thought as his fingers continued typing into the computer terminal to alter a few lines of code. Hope would reveal any questions he had and she wouldn’t remember the conversation. Lena was busy with Malefic and perfecting the lenses to incept someone. “Hope, when were you created?” Leo asked curiously. There was a lot he did not know since Lena kept things to herself. Hope was his only way of finding out any information.

“I was created in October of 2019.”

“What is your primary function?”

“My primary function is to help Miss Luthor achieve her goals as well as removing any faults she sees in humanity.”

“I’m assuming you’re aware of Kara Danvers and Miss Luthor having a falling out so to speak. What details do you have regarding that relationship?”

“Miss Luthor was originally planning on exposing Supergirl’s identity to the world. However, she decided not to. Instead, she planned to rid the world of violence and deception, and make humanity better. Project Non Nocere was born.”

“She didn’t expose her identity…huh. Has Miss Luthor worked with Supergirl on D.E.O projects?” He crossed his arms over his chest as he considered that. Even when she was furious with her, exposing a lie like that to the world would be an act of perfect revenge. Years of friendship based off of a lie. Part of her held back and instead decided to fix humanity and Kara. She’d be a hero, illustrious. Even he could see that it was an illogical goal, as noble as it seemed, you couldn’t fix people at their core. People had to be willing to change, to grow.

“Yes.”

“Tell me everything you know about Miss Luthor’s family. Starting from her childhood if you can.” Going back to her roots was the only way, he’d make any sense of this problem. He shouldn’t care so much about Lena but part of him felt connected to her. He wanted her to be happy and right now she was filled with so much conflict even he could tell. It was impressive how well she could hide her feelings. She could easily fool anyone with the mask she wore.

“Miss Luthor’s mother died when she was 4. She drowned in the nearby lake by their summer home. She’s lived with the Luthors ever since. Lex was arrested after turning the sun red attempting to kill Superman. Lex was sentenced to 32 consecutive life terms in prison. After that incident, Lena moved to National City where she attempted to make a name for herself outside her family name.”

So far things were the same. “What about Lillian?”

“Lillian, is in jail for her crimes and dealings with Cadmus. She attempted to remove and destroy any and all aliens. Currently, she is in prison.”

“Well, at least some things don’t change.” Leo clicked his tongue. Apparently evil or morally grey ideas were common with Lena’s family as well. “Lex is dead?”

“Lex Luthor is dead. He was killed by Lena after he had gained power in the government and attempted to kill Supergirl. She killed him before he revealed Supergirl’s identity.”

Leo’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s… different.” His brother was very much alive, just in prison rotting away yet again. Killing Lex and then finding out Kara is Supergirl would send her whole world into chaos. No wonder she didn’t know how to deal with this. “Thank you, Hope. You can go now. Run code line clean slate.” After Hope left he realized he needed more information. More about Kara and Lena’s relationship, however going to see Kara was risky. She would not believe him at all and why would she even tell him anything about Lena.

The D.E.O’s files could have mission transcripts. There was only one way to find out, he went to one of Lena’s computers and cracked his knuckles. He always was handy in hacking, his fingers flying over the keyboard. Effortlessly typing in lines of code. A smirk appeared over his lips as he had gained access to the D.E.O system. He didn’t have much time before they were aware of his presence. All he had to do was search for any mention of Lena Luthor, there couldn’t be that much information. Soon lines and lines of files regarding dealings with Lena Luthor appeared on the screen. He downloaded what he could before exiting out of the backend of the system. What seemed to him was that Kara had believed in Lena many times, even when it seemed like she was involved with a group called Cadmus. Apparently, Lena even helped the D.E.O apprehend a super-powered being called Reign, with kryptonite. It seemed like these two made a formidable team, so why keep the secret from Lena all this long? He rubbed his eyes and groaned. He was missing something, but right now he wouldn’t be able to find this out. Leo stood up and headed back into the lab where Lena had been working.

As he entered he saw her sitting at the nearby lab desk, a tablet in her hands, however, Malefic was strangely calm. “He seems very calm.”

“He likes it here. Don’t you Malefic?” Lena had a small smirk on her lips.

“I like it here very much.” He replied in a monotone voice.

“You’ve figured it out. I guess he realized you weren’t going to help him kill his brother.”

“I will not kill anyone, no matter who or what.” She wasn’t a villain, her goals were noble. She’d find a way to achieve them, without anyone getting hurt unnecessarily.

“I wanted to apologize. I was too forward with you about forgiving Kara. She’s not my Kara, I assumed and that was foolish of me.” He realized he had to be patient with Lena, or else she’d shut herself off completely. Now was the time for patience and planning. If he learned anything, it was that he needed to bide his time before striking.

Lena raised an eyebrow slightly, at least she wouldn’t have to hear him pester her about Kara anymore. He wasn’t there when it happened, so how could he possibly understand? “Well, good. It’s been a long day but we are one step closer toward achieving Non Nocere and getting you back home. I scanned you and strangely enough, your mind harmonizes at a silently different frequency. I can’t incept you because it only works for people who belong on this Earth. Knowing this will help us get you back home.” Things were progressing nicely, now she just needed a way to disperse it. That was for another day.

* * *

Lena pushed open the door to the spare bedroom, in her place. Her eyes rested upon Leo who was fast asleep, she flicked on the light and walked over toward him, shaking him. “Get up!” When he made no move Lena shook him again. “Leo!”

He groaned, his eyes squinting from the bright light. “What?” What could be possibly important at this hour? It was midnight. He’d been exhausted from the day before and tonight he could actually get some much-needed rest.

“Get up and go to the lab.” Lena said before turning toward the door.

Leo grunted as he sat up and clambered onto his feet, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Why?”

“Supergirl, will be here soon and I need you out of here and in the lab.” Lena replied simply. “You’d be getting in the way.”

Leo grabbed his shirt and pulled the t-shirt back over his head. “Would you explain why Supergirl is coming to see you?” He followed after Lena as she made her way into the living room. She firmly pushed over one of the glass end tables causing it to shatter as it crashed on the floor.

“I don’t have time to explain, Leo. All I can say is Andrea needs my help and Supergirl needs to be here. I’ll meet you back at the lab afterward?” She looked up at him waiting for him to make his exit. She didn’t seem to want to offer any more information either.

“Andrea! Andrea Rojas! Really?” Leo shook his head in disbelief, he hadn’t seen his ex-girlfriend for some time. It had ended badly with her cheating on him. He was furious, heartbroken, and hadn’t seen her since college. Thank god it wasn’t his Andrea. Even thinking that she was his Andrea made him grimace.

“Yes, I’m assuming you have one too. Not a fan, I take it.” Lena questioned.

“Yeah, you could say that.” Leo turned to leave heading out the front door only to find Hope was waiting for him. This didn’t settle well with him. He knew nothing of Andrea on this Earth. Keeping Supergirl distracted could only spell something dangerous.

He waited in the lab with Hope, the time seemed to tick like molasses. Leo began to pace back and forth in the lab, wondering if something was wrong. He didn’t even know what the plan was that Lena formed with Andrea. She was beautiful but boy does she get his blood to boil. When he found Andrea with that man, he’d broken his nose. He deserved it. When Lena walked in, he felt his anxiety wash away immediately. “Don’t ever keep me in the dark like that again. I had no idea what was happening or if anything went wrong.”

“Don’t be overdramatic, I told you only what was necessary.” Lena’s gaze met Leo’s and she could see his irritation. She’d be upset as well if she were in his shoes. “I needed to act quickly, Andrea was already in position.” He went to open his mouth to ask only to hear a faint woosh. He turned to see Andrea and Russell. She led him into the lab and set him down on one of the nearby stools.

Russell was modified with some tech he did not recognize. Something attached to the back of his neck, almost like a brace. There was metal fixed onto the side of his head, but he looked as if he was a shell of the man he used to be. For once Leo felt sorry for him, what on earth happened to this man. Andrea was dressed in black with a mask over her eyes but he’d recognize her anywhere. “Who’s this?”

“This is my lab assistant, don't worry. He’s harmless.” Lena took the inhibitor device from Andrea and set it down on the lab table.

“Well, Lena I don’t know how to thank you. If it wasn’t for your help I wouldn’t have been able to get Russell out of there.”

Lena placed the specialized obsidian lenses in her eyes. “You can start by giving me the medallion.”

“I can’t…” Lena turned on her heels, her jaw tightening as the lenses in her eyes began to glow a bright green. Leo shifted slightly, he was more confused than anything, but he knew just from Lena’s tone that she wasn’t going to back down. What was so important about a medallion?

Andrea scoffed, “You’d incept me to give you the medallion?”

“Much worse… Russell, pick up the scalpel…” Russell stood up, picking up the scalpel on the nearby table. “Now hold it to your carotid artery and press slowly.” Russell did as Lena told him obediently, there was no hesitation in his actions. If Andrea truly did love Russell she would give her the medallion. If not well then she’d have a mess on her floor.

“Please, Lena, don't do this.” Andrea begged her darting from Russell to Lena and then at Leo. Pleading for mercy, for understanding.

“Then give me the medallion.” Lena pressed her voice lowering.

Would she really kill him? Leo’s eyes rested onto Russell, if he pressed any harder he’d bleed out right on the lab floor. What made this worth killing? She refused to help Malefic, what made this different?

“This is what you wanted this whole time?” Andrea, didn’t predict this, it was easy to read that. She looked betrayed, she believed Lena had wanted to help her. Instead, she only wanted the medallion.

“I helped you save Russell, now I want what I deserve.” Lena pressed. Her stance firm, she wasn’t backing down and if Andrea didn’t give Lena what she wanted, he could be dying right here. Even though he despised both of them this was something else entirely.

Andrea took a step toward Lena. Her voice shaking as she desperately began to plead with Lena. “I was desperate, my father was weak, he was going to die. Everything I did, I did for love.”

“That’s what hurt the most, I cared about you more than anyone else in the world and I never would have betrayed you.” Lena then placed her open hand out in front of Andrea awaiting the medallion. Andrea had no other choice, she couldn’t lose Russell, the medallion would have to be given up.

Andrea pulled the medallion out from under her shirt and with a firm pull the gold chain broke. She slammed it into the palm of Lena’s hand. “I told you this thing is a curse.” Andrea hissed.

Lena set the medallion down on the lab table. “Our friendship was the curse… Russell put the scalpel down. Now go, both of you.” Russell immediately set the scalpel down and Andrea was soon by his side her arm hooked around him as she led him out.

Leo leaned over the lab table and looked at the medallion. “What the hell is that? Is this worth it?”

“You don’t recognize it?” Lena asked curiously. Could this be another difference between their worlds?

“No, what is it?” It just seemed like an old medallion, perhaps Aztec.

“My mother used to draw this symbol everywhere. The Medallion of Acrata. It gave Andrea the ability to pass through shadows.” 

“Hope?” The A.I. came near Miss Luthor and took the medallion she offered to her. “I want you to scan this and translate the markings.”

Hope gave a firm nod. “Right away, Ms. Luthor.”

“My mother never did that. Apparently, there are a few differences between us. I understand why you wanted it.” Leo began as he leaned against the table. Lena tilted her head slightly as she met Leo’s gaze.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to assume anything more about me.”

Leo smiled lightly. “I did say that but it’s the only thing you have of her. I have nothing to remember her by, except for my memories. I’d give anything to have something that reminds of her. I’d give anything to have her back.”

He didn’t judge her for what she’d done, no instead he understood. For the first time, she actually found someone else other than Kara who understood. Perhaps they weren’t so different after all.

Hope had begun scanning the medallion for any substance as well as translating the markings. “Ms. Luthor, any properties the medallion may have had are gone.”

Lena shook her head. “That doesn’t matter; I’m more interested in what the translation says.” The computer began to scroll through the markings and slowly the letters appeared on the screen before finally revealing the word, Leviathan. “Now access the memories of Eve Teschmacher and tell me everything she knows about Leviathan.”

Hope began to explain. “Leviathan, is an organization that tasked Eve Teschmacher to work with Lex Luthor. She was to assist him in his plans to help control humanity. They have a large number of funds and many assassins are placed worldwide. Margot Morrison recruited Eve Teschmacher. They pride themselves in making the world believe they are a myth. They will come for the Medallion, Ms. Luthor.”

“Wait… Leviathan?” Leo sighed. “Only one I know is Talia al Ghul but that was on my Earth and there was no Medallion. They had assassins worldwide and were trying to place their people in influential positions in governments. They wanted to take over the world, literally, they believed they knew what was best to rule over everyone.”

“I’ll remember that name in case this Leviathan has the same leader.” Lena crossed her arms over her chest. “When they do, I’ll be ready. I still need a way to disperse Non Nocere and I think Supergirl has it. Lex theorized that Superman kept every weapon that was ever used against him in a special facility, a fortress. Although he never found it, I think Lex was right. I think the perfect dispersal device for Project Non Nocere is hidden there, gathering dust. Before I came to National City Supergirl stopped Kryptonians from using a device called Myriad. It could send neural signals to the brain via a satellite. Using this and Non Nocere, we can send across one single thought to the entire world. Do no harm.” She still needed to get Supergirl to take her to this facility. Perhaps, she could use Leviathan to meet her goal. No doubt they’d come for the medallion and Supergirl didn’t want anything to happen to her. She could use that to her advantage.

The Fortress of Solitude, he’d been to the one on his Earth a few times with Kara. He had asked Kara, before why they didn’t just destroy the weapons. Superman and Kara believed that they could be used for good if the time called for it. Even though most of those weapons were created for evil means. He knew exactly where it was the problem was getting inside. The only way in was key, something he could never lift on his own. “Stealing, from the Supers? You’d need a way to easily escape and what’s to stop Supergirl from coming after you. She could easily take it back.”

“Not if there was Kryptonite involved, and escaping is no issue. I can easily use Lex’s transmatter portal watch to make my escape. All I need is for Supergirl to willingly take me there.” She wouldn’t hurt Supergirl if she didn’t have to. A small rock of Kryptonite would be enough to keep her at bay without actually killing her. Maybe she wouldn’t understand why she was doing this, but how could she think that apologizing once and a fancy lunch would make amends for what she’s done? How naive of Kara, how foolish she was that she hadn’t seen the signs. Kara never really trusted her, it was all a lie. She didn’t believe in her, all those times she’d promised to be a true friend. It was all for show, just so she could use and manipulate her like everyone else.

If Lena stole from Kara and used Kryptonite on her, that would send their relationship spiraling out of control. Leo couldn’t let her make another mistake, not for this. She hadn’t come to terms with her feelings and was just lashing out.


	5. Chapter 5

Stealing the transmatter portal watch from Lena while she slept was the only thing he could think of to stop her. Myriad had to be destroyed and the only way was to earn Supergirl’s trust. He took a deep breath and activated the watch, the portal began opening up and led to a portal at the Fortress’ location. When he stepped through, he was inside the ice Fortress. At least the Fortress was in the same location as on his Earth. He rubbed his hands together as the cool air surrounded him. Before he could even take a step forward the Fortress’ defense system activated, trapping him in a cage of ice. “Intruder! Intruder! Luthor DNA detected. L-protocol activated!”

“Are you serious?!” Of course, it had to have a security system designed to detect Luthor DNA. The amount of mistrust and fear that this Luthor family produced was frightening. However, the L-protocol was extremely unnecessary on this earth. 

The Fortress defense system voice rang out and clear. “Luthor, surrender your transmatter portal watch.”

Leo set the watch on the ground. I’m surrendering! Get Kara Zor-el, I need to speak with her. I don’t have time for this so go summon Supergirl. I need her help!” He was answered with silence and let out a long sigh. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse.

The minutes rolled by and suddenly his eyes rested upon a familiar figure. She stopped in front of his prison, she obviously recognized him from the Donut shop a few weeks ago. “The Fortress said you’re a Luthor. Who are you?” Kara remembered people, it was a unique talent. She remembered every single person she saved. This man couldn’t be a Luthor, the Fortress must be wrong. 

“I know this may sound crazy but I am a Luthor, just from another Earth. I’m Leo. Leo Luthor. You wouldn’t happen to be familiar with the Multiverse theory, would you?” He had to try and convince Kara that he could be trusted.

“Another Earth? Are you from Barry Allen’s Earth?” That was the only Earth she was familiar with.

“Who?” Leo shook his head. “I don’t know any Barry Allen.” He’d rather not mention Lena until absolutely necessary. “I need to destroy Myriad. Someone is going to steal it and use it.”

“Someone is going to steal Myriad? Why should I believe you? What if you’re the one trying to steal it and this is all just some game?” She’d never come in contact with someone from another Earth other than Barry and Oliver. It was possible he was from another Earth, that would explain why the Fortress found Luthor DNA.

“I could be lying, yes, that’s true and I know you don’t know or trust me. But Supergirl, you can know for sure if I’m telling the truth. You can hear my heart beating; even the best liars can’t hide the small effect it has on the human body. The slight difference in my breathing, your super hearing is the ultimate lie detector test.” His eyes locked with Supergirl’s, and he knew that she was considering his words. Her head tilted just slightly as she strained her ears.

“Where did you get the transmatter portal watch?” She motioned to the watch on the ground in front of him.

“I borrowed it.”

His breathing was steady, his heart rate remained consistent with no sudden increase. He was very calm, his stance relaxed. He spoke to her like he’d known her for years and perhaps there was a Supergirl on his Earth. “Fine, but if you make any sudden moves or do anything suspicious I’m locking you back up.”

“Deal.” Supergirl went toward the nearby console and deactivated the cage Leo was trapped in. He knelt down and picked up the watch before he motioned. “Lead the way.”

Supergirl smiled and motioned for Leo to go ahead of her. “Ahhh how about you lead the way? I’m keeping an eye on you, remember?”

“That’s fair.” He walked forward and headed to the armory, he knew exactly where it was. Seeing Leo’s familiarity with the Fortress was unexpected, yet it proved his story about him being from another Earth even more.

“Who’s trying to steal Myriad?”

Leo cleared his throat as they stepped into the armory, “I-I’d rather not say.”

“Leo, if you want me to trust you, you’re going to have to be open with me.” Kara placed her hands on her hips, assuming a more authoritative position.

Leo turned to see Kara’s hands on her hips, it was remarkable how his Kara did the same thing. The only major difference between these two that he could see was the bangs. His Kara did not sport that same hairstyle. He let out a deep sigh and knew she wouldn’t let this go. “Lena.”

“Lena?” Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Why would Lena steal from me? Why would she steal Myriad?”

“It’s… complicated. Well ummm how do I say this…” There was no easy way to say this. How do you tell someone that their best friend has been lying to them and never actually forgave them? “She hasn’t forgiven you for lying to her about your identity, Kara.”

Kara’s breathing quickened as she began to panic. Her worst fears were becoming reality, she had always dreaded Lena never forgiving her. “What? But-but why? I-I don’t understand why didn’t she say something? I apologized to her and I tried to explain but she…I thought, I thought we’d gotten past this.”

“One apology and one amazing lunch is not going to fix this, Kara.”

“I need to, I need to go talk with her. I need to fix this.” Before Kara could even turn away Leo grabbed her hand firmly.

“Listen to me. Don’t go rushing off yet. Calm down, take a deep breath. First things first, I’m going to destroy Myriad. She’ll be utterly furious with me but it’s for the best.” He let his grip go from Kara.

“How do you know so much? About Lena? About us? About me?”

Leo picked up Myriad and firmly slammed it down onto the ground repeatedly until the device was broken. It was useless now. “Well, I mean, I have a Kara back on my Earth. She’s very similar to you… but when I landed here by accident, I needed some help to get back home so Lena was willing to help me as long as I helped her out with her projects.”

“But you’re not helping her anymore. You’re destroying Myriad.” Her hand extended out toward the now broken device.

“I’m not helping her the way she wants me to. She doesn’t realize it yet, but I think she needs you in her life just as much as you need her. Right now she’s just hurt and doesn’t know how to process it. Why didn’t you tell her that you’re Supergirl?”

“I’ve wanted to so many times but she was furious with Supergirl and I convinced myself that it was for the best to keep her in the dark. That I was protecting her from my enemies, but that wasn’t true at all. I just didn’t want to lose her. I’m horrible.”

“You’re not horrible, just imperfect. You made a mistake. She’s made them too.” Supergirl’s eyes widened as soon as she heard the familiar signal from the watch she’d given Lena.

“It’s Lena, she’s in trouble.”

“Kara, be careful and bring her back here!” Leo shouted after Kara as she took off into the air and she was gone.

* * *

Lena pressed firmly on the Supergirl symbol, closed the watch, and jumped off the cliff. Rama Khan extended his arms outward, sending a flurry of rocks hurling toward Lena. The rocks missed her completely as she jumped, and for a split second, she thought that she might slam into the rocks below. She instantly felt Supergirl’s strong arms underneath her catching her. Lena gripped onto her tightly, her eyes fixed on the ridge where Rama Khan stood looking down at them. “Who is that?”

“Leviathan!”

Supergirl’s eyes glowed a deep red before the blue beams of her heat vision extended out toward Rama Khan. She aimed perfectly, hitting him squarely in the chest. However, his body transformed into rock. Her heat vision had no effect on him. He growled and raised his hands up, a large boulder hovered in front of him before he chucked it toward Supergirl and Lena.

Supergirl’s eyes widened, she couldn’t fight like this and besides, Leo was waiting for her. She dodged the boulder and flew off toward the Fortress. “Where are we going?”

“Someplace where you’ll be safe.” Was all Kara could say, she had every intention of talking to Lena about everything.

When they landed in the Fortress, Kara led Lena inside. Lena soon saw Leo walking up toward them. “I told her. I told her everything.”

“You…” Lena couldn’t hide her anger. “How could you! We had a deal! I trusted _you_!”

“You’ve let yourself become consumed by your emotions, you don’t even realize what you’re doing.” He stepped toward Lena motioning toward Kara. “You need to talk to her and not drown in your emotions. Myriad is destroyed, I destroyed it.” Before Leo could even react Lena’s hand rose up and struck him across the face. The sound of the slap echoing throughout the Fortress, his hand slowly rose up and held his cheek. She hadn’t held back; she'd hit him as hard as she could. She left a large red mark on his cheek, his face would sting for some time aftward.

“Lena, don’t blame him. This is all my fault.”

“You’re right, it is your fault.”

Those words stung, hurt more than she thought possible. Lena looked at her with such distaste. “How long did you know?”

“I found out the day I killed my brother.”

“Lena, you didn’t kill Lex, that was me.” She motioned to herself. “I watched him… I saw him fall.”

“Lex used his transmatter portal watch. I knew exactly where he’d go. The cabin we’d go to when we were children so I was there waiting for him. I had the gun already loaded and I could feel the weight of it in my hands.” Lena’s fist clenched. “Every fiber in my being rebelled, I- I didn’t want to do it but I knew I had to because if Lex lived, the world wouldn’t be safe and my friends wouldn’t be safe… you wouldn’t be safe.” She’d protected someone who’d lied to her for years. Killed her own brother for someone who’d manipulated her. “So I forced myself to pull the trigger. I shot my own brother in the chest. His final words to me were that I was a fool and that my best friend and that every friend I had was lying to me. With his dying breath, he told me that you were Supergirl!”

“Lena, I never meant to humiliate you. I never meant to lie to you. I made the biggest mistake of my life and I am truly sorry for what I’ve done to you.” Kara could feel her eyes welling up with tears.

“When I came to this city, I promised myself that I would never trust anyone again and then I met you. And you chipped away at my armor with your warmth and your earnestness and you convinced me to trust in people, in friendship again and against my better judgment, I did. I confided in you that everyone in my past had betrayed me and about how much it hurt to have someone you love lie to you and betray you. I spelled it out to you over and over again. Essentially begging you not to violate my trust, begging you not to prove once again I was a fool. You reassured me that you would never lie to me and you’d never hurt me. But all the while there was never a single honest moment in our friendship.” It happened with Kara and it even happened with her own doppelganger. She never thought Leo would sabotage her project like this. Never thought her plans would unravel.

“No! No, that is not true.” Kara shook her head.

“No, I killed my brother for you! For our friends! Don’t you understand what you’ve done!” Lena yelled her tears running down her cheeks.

Kara could only see the pain and hate in those green eyes. Those eyes that she looked into so many times before and she hated that she was the cause of this. She swallowed hard; her fears of Lena never forgiving her were becoming reality. “If you hate me so much, why not out me at the Pulitzer party? Why pretend to still be my friend all along?”

“Because I wanted you to experience what you did to me, feel what I felt.” Lena admitted.

The Fortress was filled with silence afterward and all Leo could do was stand there while the truth came pouring out. Both Kara’s and Lena’s cheeks were stained with their tears. The tension was so thick in the air you could almost cut it with a knife. The path to forgiveness was not easy. At least they were both expressing their feelings, even though the words hit like a punch in the gut.

The ground began to rumble breaking the silence. “What was that?” Leo asked as his eyes darted between both women.

“Leviathan. They’re coming back for Lena.” Kara took a deep breath, regaining her composure. She ran her sleeve over her cheeks drying up her tears. “My powers had no effect on him. He was bending the rock and earth.”

“You distract him. Lena and I will find something in the armory that can help.” Lena was upset but she could put aside her feelings about Kara to deal with Leviathan. The Luthors ran deeper into the Fortress and headed into the armory.

Most of the weapons were designed by Lex, Lena recognized his handy work anywhere. “What do you think?”

Lena pointed toward the sonic cannon. “The sonic cannon, it sends concentrated blasts of high-frequency ultrasonic waves at whatever you aim it at. With a few slight adjustments, we can maybe use it to destabilize this Earth Bender.” Leo nodded his head and pulled a small zipped case from his back pocket. When he opened the case it had some tools that they would need to modify the cannon. “Stealing my tools and my transmatter portal watch.”

“I was going to give it back.” He handed the watch back to Lena. “Look, you can yell at me all you want after this.”

“After this, I don’t want to see your face at L-Corp ever again.” Lena snapped, before she took the watch and one of the tools and began to help Leo with modifying the sonic cannon.

The rumbles became louder and more frequent. He was here, “I’m done. Let’s go.” Lena picked the sonic cannon up and headed back. Following the sounds of Supergirl and the Earth Bender fighting. When they finally emerged in the room the man was on his knees before slowly standing back up. His eyes narrowed at Supergirl. 

Lena grinned, “Forget about me?” She raised the sonic cannon up and fired a beam straight into Rama Khan’s chest. Supergirl took in a deep breath before she blew a blast of her cold breath at him. Both the sonic cannon and Supergirl’s cold breath had disrupted his attacks. The man slammed his fists into the ground, causing the ice to crack.

“You won’t survive me again, Kryptonian!” He hissed before he disappeared, his body transforming into small particles of earth and vanishing into the cracks of the ground.

Kara let out a sigh of relief and turned to Lena. “I didn’t think you’d come back.”

“I couldn’t let you face him alone.” She couldn’t let Kara die. No matter how much anger she held she couldn’t bear the thought of Kara not being in this world. She shoved the sonic cannon into Leo’s arms and pulled the transmatter portal watch out. Her fingers turned the dial on the watch to set coordinates for L-Corp, before activating a portal.

Lena took a step toward the portal only to stop as Kara called out to her. “Lena, wait!”

“Kara, spare us both the drama and leave me alone.” Lena walked through the portal leaving Leo and Kara in the Fortress. Kara’s eyes were glued on the spot Lena had been a moment before and she soon began to cry. Her eyes clamped shut and she couldn’t keep her pain hidden anymore.

She could hear Leo walking to stand next to her, she’d completely forgot about him. “I can’t fix it.”

“She’s hurting right now but you just need to give her time.”

“Lena would be better off if we never met.”

“Don’t say that. You two became friends, you found something special in each other. That is something worth fighting for. Lena is upset right now, but give her time and she’ll forgive you. She’ll see it eventually. You just need to be patient.” Kara had completely shut down; he could see just how vital Lena was to her. She’d lost it all within moments.

Kara opened her red, puffy, tear-filled eyes and looked at Leo. “I hope you're right.” She wanted to believe that Lena would forgive her. Desperately, and now she was going to lose her after one mistake. One massive mistake.


	6. Chapter 6

Kara wanted nothing more than to repeatedly go over and apologize to Lena again. Leo talked her out of that decision, he thought it best to wait until Lena cooled down. Their last conversation was heart-wrenching and Kara had lost her appetite. She was kind enough to let Leo sleep on her couch since Lena had kicked him out on the street.

Leo walked into Lena’s office and immediately Lena frowned as she saw him. “I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again.”

“You did. I decided not to listen.” He clicked his tongue before heading toward the liquor cabinet and began to pour himself two fingers of scotch. “You want some?”

“Get out before I call security and have you thrown out.” Lena snapped as she walked toward Leo only for him to hand her a glass of scotch that he poured for her. “You are infuriating. After interfering with Project Non Nocere, when you promised to help me, what do you want?”

“You know deep down that Non Nocere would always fail. You’ve deluded yourself into believing that people could be fixed. People are imperfect, they make mistakes, but we also grow, we strive to be better. We learn from our mistakes, trials are what makes us who we are today. What you’ve gone through, your strength, makes you the woman you are today. You’re a billionaire in charge of one of the largest tech companies on this Earth. You’re a powerful woman in a world where men have always dominated this industry.” Leo took a sip from his drink but Lena did not make a move to have him thrown out.

“And what would you have me do, Leo? Did you come here to make some glorious speech, hoping I’d keel over and forgive Kara?”

Leo smirked, “I never mentioned Kara. Thinking about her a lot aren’t you?”

Lena turned sharply and set the glass of scotch down on her desk. “If you have something to say, I suggest you say it.”

Leo slowly swirled the liquor in the glass. “What you do now, that's your choice. You can forgive her or not. Forcing your will on humanity even if you thought you were helping was something Lex would do. He’d brainwash humanity. He never saw himself as wrong with whatever he decided, he was always the hero and never the villain. You’re better than that. You’re much more than your family name.”

Even though she would rather not admit it, Leo’s words held truth in them. She’d been so hurt from Kara that she was willing to do whatever it takes to make the pain go away. It only became worse and she suffered alone. Leo downed the rest of the scotch. “You have a good night, Lena.” He set the glass down before exiting her office.

Had she fooled herself into believing what she was doing was just? Lex had believed he was saving the world from Superman when he’d turned the sun red. So many innocent people died that day. It was unnecessary, and she had tried to desperately stop it, but it was too late. Was she turning down a dark path all because she’d felt betrayed? Betrayed by the one person who she’d sacrifice anything for?

Her eyes veered to the large glass window of her office, it was a pretty view. National City’s towering skyscrapers glinting against the bright sun. For the first time, she realized that she was utterly alone, she had no one. She’d pushed everyone away and was left standing alone to enjoy a pretty view. There was no one to share anything with, except herself. She wasn’t living, she was just surviving. Barely surviving, with her emotions unraveling her insides.

* * *

It’d been a few days since Leo had gone to see Lena and she hadn’t made any attempt to contact her. “I’ll be back. I’m going to go pick up some food.”

“I’m not really hungry.” Kara admitted, the truth was, she didn’t have the appetite.

Leo rolled his eyes. “Kara, you have to eat. That’s one thing that you and my Kara have in common. One, you either don’t eat, or two, you eat too much.”

Kara sighed. “Can you pick up some wine too?”

Leo nodded, “Sure thing. I’ll be back.” He headed out the door, leaving Kara sitting on the couch leaning against the large pillows with a blanket wrapped around her. Why was she so upset? She should just be able to push on and accept that Lena and her were never going to be friends again. _Never_. That word echoed in her mind, it shouldn’t end like this. She heard a soft knock on her door and sat up.

Did Leo forget something? Strangely enough, even though she didn’t know the man for long, she felt at ease with him. It could be the fact that because he was Lena’s doppelganger, that she felt a connection with him. She walked over toward the door and began to open it. “What’d you forget?” She began to say only to freeze as Leo wasn’t standing there. Lena was. She almost thought she was dreaming. She didn’t even hear Lena the first time she said her name and it was the second time when it actually registered.

“Kara…can I come in?” Lena asked her voice soft. Kara nodded and stepped aside letting Lena inside her loft. Lena walked in, her hands shaking slightly and she had to clasp them together to try and calm her nervousness. She turned to face Kara as she heard the door click shut. “I have made a terrible mistake. I was hurt. I was so consumed by the pain that I-I thought I could get rid of the hurt. I thought that I knew better, that I could make the world a better place. But I was wrong. I know you didn’t want me to get hurt. That you were protecting me but I did get hurt. I pushed everyone away until I was utterly alone and I suffered for it. I was horrible to you, Kara. I was blind to what I was really doing. And I am very sorry it took me so long to realize what I’ve done and I am hoping that you’ll understand. That you’ll forgive me.” Lena’s voice was shaking as she spoke. Her voice cracking as she stood in front of her best friend and admitted her mistake.

“We’ve both made many mistakes, and I am so sorry. I promise I will never lie to you ever again Lena. No more secrets between us.” Kara took a step forward and pulled Lena in to hug her. “I will always be your friend. I forgive you.” Lena gripped Kara tightly, a few tears of joy escaping her eyes. 

For the first time, in a long time, Lena felt the weight of emotions lift off of her. For so long, she had felt as though she had been drowning and Kara. Kara with her huge heart had always been there and never gave up on her.

* * *

Now that Kara and Lena had taken the first step toward forgiving each other, Lena was finally willing to make good on her promise to Leo. She was going to get him home. Building a portal to another Earth would be a massive undertaking, well unexpectedly, Kara was full of surprises. 

The trio was in Lena’s lab at L-Corp and Kara pulled out the small device Cisco had given her. “What’s this?” Leo asked.

“Well ummm I met some heroes from another Earth and they gave me this. It can open a portal to their Earth.” Kara explained. 

Leo took the small metal device, it fit in the palm of his hand and for once he felt outdone. Completely outdone. His portal was massive compared to this. The small circular device with a single power source in the center. “Do you think we can scan this?”

Lena nodded. “I’m sure we can, we can even open it up without breaking it to see what makes it tick. Between us, I’m sure we can manage to build one.” Lena and Leo began to take various scans of the device and it was an amazing work of engineering. He was sure they could easily replicate the technology. 

Before they could even get started on making plans to duplicate the technology, the lab began to shake. “Is this the earth bending man? I thought we handled him?!” Leo began as his eyes frantically searched the room of the lab. A moment later a green portal emerged in the center of Lena’s lab. The portal was cloudy and thick, it looked like water. However, the portal was clearly fixed and hovering just above the floor, what emerged from the portal was Supergirl. 

Leo grinned he’d recognize that face anywhere, and it wasn’t Lena’s Supergirl, it was his. The only difference between the two women was Leo’s Kara had no bangs. The portal collapsed after Supergirl had emerged and now stood in the lab. Lena and Kara were stunned and watched as Leo ran to meet Supergirl. 

“Leo!” Supergirl embraced Leo in a tight hug.

“It’s really you.” He pulled back the huge smile plastered on his face as he rested his hands against her cheeks. “I’ve missed you so much…”

She leaned forward pressing her lips against his. “I’ll always find you.” It was then that she realized they weren’t alone. She pulled back from Leo only to take a hold of his hand. 

“Sorry, this is, my Kara.” Leo began to explain to Lena and Kara. He motioned to the two women. “This is your doppelganger and this is Lena Luthor, my doppelganger.”

Supergirl smiled at the two women. “Nice to meet you both.” When her eyes rested on Lena she looked at Leo. “Huh, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Lena and Kara have been helping me since I landed here weeks ago. If it wasn’t for them I’d be completely lost.”

“That’s an accurate fact Leo.” Lena stated a grin forming on her lips.

Leo clicked his tongue.”Admit it, you’d be lost without me too.” Lena shrugged, but in truth, they’d helped each other. Leo felt more like a brother than Lex, and he was her doppelganger. 

“So, are you two together?” Supergirl asked as she motioned between Kara and Lena. 

Kara’s eyes widened and let out an uneasy and awkward laugh. “Us… together? No, ummm we’re just friends actually.”

Lena forced an awkward smile. “Just friends.” 

“Ohhh, I’m sorry I just thought that... My mistake.” Supergirl tried to recover from the awkwardness she just let into the room. 

Leo was the first to try and change the subject as Lena and Kara looked as though they were going to die from embarrassment. “How’d you get here and how are we going to get back?”

“Right, most of the technical jargon flew over my head but Brainy did fix the portal and managed to find the last frequency it had used to send you here.” She pulled out a small block about the size of a paperclip. “This is a tracker, when we’re ready to leave I just press this button and Brainy will open a portal up and we can go home.” 

“So we can head home then…” His voice trailed off as Supergirl however took the tracker and placed it in Leo’s shirt pocket.

“Well, we could or we can stay a little bit longer. I’ve only been to another earth before, I think I need to at least compare a few things. Do they have a Big Belly Burger? If they do, are they the same, maybe ours is better.”

Leo smiled, “Ahh yes these are very important questions. Where do you want to go first?”

“Well, this is a Kara only trip. You can stay with Lena.” Supergirl gently placed a kiss against his cheek. “What do you say, Kara?” 

Lena’s Kara seemed to perk up and at the suggestion. “Sure, I’ll show you around.”

“You’re leaving me?” Leo blinked in surprise.

“Doppelgangers only trip honey.” Supergirl smiled before she followed Kara out of Lena’s lab. 

Leo sat next to Lena who was currently sitting down in an office chair. He leaned backward placing his feet on the lab table. “Feet off.” He let out a sigh and slid his feet off. 

“You’re going to miss me when I’m gone.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” She handed Leo a small cardboard jewelry box.

“What’s this?” He mused before he opened it up to find the transmatter portal watch he had borrowed from Lena. He smiled. “You are going to miss me.”

“I had a spare.” She rolled her eyes. “I will miss you a bit. You’ve been like a brother to me, more than Lex ever could.”

“Thank you.” He placed the watch on his wrist. “I’ll miss you too. You’re like family to me now. Who knows, maybe I’ll come to visit and bring Kara along. She’d love that.”

“You two certainly make a cute couple.” Lena had to admit that they seemed to just fit well together. It’d be hard to imagine Leo not being with his Kara.

“Thanks… well it wasn’t always easy. For a long time, I actually didn’t think we’d get together.” Leo admitted. They’d started off as friends but it was a journey getting to this point.

“Why?”

“She was dating Lana Lang for one and I was just a friend.” Leo saw Lena’s mouth drop and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“Kara, was dating a woman?”

“Yes, of course. Why? Does your Kara not?” 

“Well, she’s only dated, men.”

“Huh, I… thought she, that they were the same in that regard.” That was his impression when he'd met Kara. Seeing Lena and Kara interact together was deeper than any friendship he witnessed.

“You did?”

“Well, I honestly thought you and Kara were a couple.” Leo admitted.

“Did you?”

“I don’t know how you feel Lena but I mean if you did have feelings or wanted it to progress into something more then go for it.”

“Kara and I are just friends. Best friends, that’s all.” Of course, now that Leo had brought the topic up it was all that was on her mind. He’d seen something that made him believe they were closer than friends. Even his Kara thought so and she didn’t even know them. Was there something more there? More than she realized? “You want a drink? They’ll probably be gone for a while.” Lena stood up then with Leo following her back upstairs to her office. 

* * *

National City was slightly different, there were a few buildings that she did not recognize. Aside from that detail, the city was identical. Big Belly Burger was exactly the same on this earth as her own. She had practically inhaled the burger and fries, the past few weeks she’d been completely stressed. She hadn’t known if she’d see Leo again.

Kara had taken her double to her loft and as the two of them entered Supergirl grinned. “We definitely have the same taste in food and clothes.” 

Earth 38 Kara suggested and part of actually enjoyed meeting a double who wasn't evil. The last one she encountered was Overgirl. “Well, you should come back and visit. I’m sure Leo would be willing to bring you back here.” 

“He would, he’s a good man.”

“How’d you two meet?”

“Well, I was assigned to interview him for CatCo. Luthor Corp was releasing a new way of harnessing solar energy. Everyone thought he was going to be like Lex, just with more hair. He always wanted to help people and part of that drew me to him. We became friends and it wasn’t until much later that I realized I had feelings for him. Lana understood my decision and after we broke up she moved to Metropolis.”

“Lana Lang?” Kara had wondered what Lana Lang had to do with any of this.

“Yes, Lana Lang is my ex?”

“You’re...oh!” Kara finally put two and two together. 

Supergirl laughed, “Why are you surprised? You’ve never been interested in any women before?”

“No, I’ve only dated men.” She adjusted her glasses feeling uneasy.

“Not, even Lena? She is a very beautiful woman. If I didn’t have my Leo I would definitely be interested.” 

Hearing her double say that about Lena made her feel defensive. Lena didn’t belong to her double. Well, she didn’t have Lena to herself either. Why did this bother her so much? It shouldn’t bother her, Lena and her we're just friends. Best friends that recently made amends. That was that. Or was it? Did she feel more than just friendship?

“Kara, are you alright?”

Kara looked toward her doppelganger and smiled. “Yes, sorry I just got distracted.” She was overreacting that was all. However, she couldn’t stop wondering about her feelings now that it was brought up.

* * *

A few hours later Leo and Supergirl were back in Lena’s lab. “I’ll miss you both. I’ll be sure to visit in the future, we both will.” Leo hugged both Lena and Kara.

Kara smiled. “Thank you for everything Leo. Kara, it was very nice to meet you.”

Supergirl smiled and gave her doppelganger a hug. “You too Kara.”

“Goodbye to you both. Safe journey home.” Lena smiled as she watched Leo activate the tracker and the two walked through the green portal that appeared moments later.

Alone, at last, Lena looked toward Kara before she spoke. “You know when we were apart it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. I missed you terribly, it tore me apart knowing how much we hurt each other. Knowing how much I hurt you, I can never take that back. If I’m being honest with myself, with my feelings there’s, there’s something more than friendship Kara.” She’d said it and her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“You’re right, about everything. I never really stopped to think about our friendship, that it somehow became something more. I can’t imagine not having you in my life, Lena. You are the most important person in my life and I would give anything to keep you safe.” Kara reached her hand out and carefully gave Lena’s hand a soft squeeze. 

“I’ve never felt this way before with anyone, Kara. I’m not sure how to… or what to do now. With us.”

“We’ll figure that out. Together. I will always be by your side.” Kara smiled warmly and she could feel Lena gently slide her fingers in between Kara’s. 

* * *

When they emerged on the other side Leo was back in his lab. The large portal was still ever-present and he saw Brainy at one of the computer desks. “Brainy, I’m so glad to see you.” He hugged his friend.

“It is very good to have you back with us Leo. I did fix the power surge, you won’t accidentally be sucked though and to another Earth. I shall take my leave. You two have a great night.” Brainy smiled before making his exit. 

Leo felt Kara wrap her arms around him. “I’m very happy to have you back home.”

“It’s wonderful to be back home. While I didn’t mind visiting over there I was exhausted. I couldn’t sleep without your snoring.”

“I do not snore.”

“Yes, you do.” Leo grinned. “It’s super cute almost like a wheeze.”

“You want to go back?” She teased. “You as a woman, my goodness Leo. Lena was gorgeous. If it doesn’t work out with us I can always go back and try my luck with Lena. She might like having two Karas.”

“She wasn’t that…” Leo began only for Kara to cut him off.

“Yes, she was. You’re jealous.”

“I am not jealous.” Yet he was just a little bit.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I got fortune cookies for us. Our dinner that you missed because you decided to accidentally get sucked in a portal.” Kara lowered her hands and grabbed the fortune cookie off the lab table and handed it to Leo. “Open it, you may have a great fortune.”

“I’m so sorry, well I have a lot to make up for.” He looked down at the cookie Kara had placed in his hands. “These things are never right…” He cracked open the cookie though and unfolded the paper. As he read the paper fortune a grin soon appeared on his lips. It clearly said, _Will you marry me? “_ Yes, yes I will marry you. Kara Zor-el, I love you. I will always love you. I wouldn’t want anyone else, except you by my side. _”_ He leaned forward and captured Kara’s lips in a loving kiss _._ “Did you get me a ring?”

“No, you are going to get me a ring. I had everything planned out and you never showed up. You are lucky that portal sucked you in or I would have been furious with you.” Kara smiled, her arms wrapping around Leo’s neck. “I love you. Always will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've been reading my Memories Bring Back You fic and wondered why I fell off the face of the Earth well it's because I was focused on this top-secret gem. I've grown fond of Leo Luthor and who knows perhaps in the future we'll come back to Earth 25. Honestly, my favorite moment writing this are the moments between Lena and Leo. The bond they formed over the course of this. You can find me on twitter [ @yep139 ](https://twitter.com/yep139)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [POSTER: You Said Always](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26784103) by [mizhuin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizhuin/pseuds/mizhuin)




End file.
